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Supplementary Order Paper No 292

No 292

House of Representatives

Supplementary Order Paper

Wednesday, 7 August 2019

Abortion Legislation Bill

Proposed amendment

Darroch Ball, in Committee, to move the following amendment:

Clause 2

Replace “This Act comes into force on the day after the date of Royal assent.” (page 3, line 5) with:

(1)

If a majority of electors voting in a referendum agree that this Act should come into force, this Act comes into force on the day after the date on which the official result of that referendum is declared.

(2)

If this Act does not come into force under subsection (1) within 3 years after the date on which it receives the Royal assent, this Act is repealed.

(3)

In this section, referendum—

(a)

means a referendum held on polling day for the election held after this Act receives the Royal assent that provides electors with an opportunity to decide whether this Act should come into force; and

(b)

includes any fresh referendum required to be held if the High Court, on a petition, declares the referendum under paragraph (a) to be void.

Explanatory note

This Supplementary Order Paper amends clause 2 of the Abortion Legislation Bill to make the commencement of the Bill contingent on the outcome of a referendum.

If the majority of electors voting at a referendum agree the Bill should come into force, the Bill comes into force on the day after the date the official result of the referendum is declared.

If the majority of electors voting at a referendum do not agree that the Bill should come into force, this Bill is repealed.

If no referendum is held within 3 years after the date on which this Bill receives the Royal assent, this Bill is repealed.